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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A French archeological team has unearthed a 2,700-year-old sculpture of the winged Assyrian Lamassu in the village of Khorbasad, known in Assyrian as Dur-Sharrukin, 15 kilometers northwest of Mosul city.
Weighing 18 tons and measuring 3.8 by 3.9 meters, the lamassu - a winged bull with a human face - has only its head missing. The head is already placed at the Iraq Museum in Baghdad. The head was confiscated by authorities in Baghdad from smugglers in the 1990s.
"The winged bull is an important part of the history of Iraq," Dr. Lays Majeed, head of the culture and heritage board of the Iraqi culture ministry, told Rudaw on Wednesday.
Majeed added that they have not yet decided where to keep the unearthed sculpture.
"It is not yet decided whether to put the winged bull at the Iraq Museum in Baghdad or the Mosul Museum," he said.
The team that started the dig to unearth the giant sculpture that remains largely intact, comes from the Sorbonne University in Paris.
The lamassu was considered one of the symbols of strength, courage, and nobility of the Assyrians, who say it was used to protect cities, palaces, and temples.
Weighing 18 tons and measuring 3.8 by 3.9 meters, the lamassu - a winged bull with a human face - has only its head missing. The head is already placed at the Iraq Museum in Baghdad. The head was confiscated by authorities in Baghdad from smugglers in the 1990s.
"The winged bull is an important part of the history of Iraq," Dr. Lays Majeed, head of the culture and heritage board of the Iraqi culture ministry, told Rudaw on Wednesday.
Majeed added that they have not yet decided where to keep the unearthed sculpture.
"It is not yet decided whether to put the winged bull at the Iraq Museum in Baghdad or the Mosul Museum," he said.
The team that started the dig to unearth the giant sculpture that remains largely intact, comes from the Sorbonne University in Paris.
The lamassu was considered one of the symbols of strength, courage, and nobility of the Assyrians, who say it was used to protect cities, palaces, and temples.
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